iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Jim on Japan @jimt.onjapan.net · 06/08/2026

Exploring using OpenDisplay on the Xteink X4 to plot hourly energy consumption over the past 4 days with data pulled from Octopus Energy Japan's API. Unfortunately, there seems to be a significant time lag between the smart meter readings and the data showing up in their GraphQL DB.

The small (800x480) Xteink X4 E-ink ereader repurposed to run OpenDisplay, showing a bar graph of hourly energy consumption.

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Jim on Japan @jimt.onjapan.net · 25/05/2026

Drainspotting in Matsuyama, Ehime.

Painted manhole cover showing pink flowers on green leaves.

Painted manhole cover with pink and red flowers on green plants.

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Jim on Japan @jimt.onjapan.net · 10/05/2026

I got to meet #Banio, the #mascot of the Atagawa Tropical & Alligator Garden. It started in the 1950s growing bananas, but has added 17 different species of alligators. #japan

Two people flanking "Banio" the mascot of the Atagawa Tropical & Alligator Garden. He is showing off his "lucky banana."

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Jim on Japan @jimt.onjapan.net · 10/05/2026

Our local railroad company organized an express train excursion to the Taiwan Lantern Festival in Atagawa, Shizuoka. There were lots of food booths, a taiko performance, and hundreds of lanterns.

A night view overlooking the park near Atagawa Station, Shizuoka, Japan illuminated by hundreds of Taiwanese lanterns.

Taiwanese lanterns along the entranceway to Izukyu Railway's Atagawa Station.

The onsen footbath near Atagawa Station. The open-air roof is hung with many red Taiwanese lanterns.

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Jim on Japan @jimt.onjapan.net · 16/04/2026

The scent of grapes was nearly overpowering as I crossed the plaza this morning in Ito, Japan.

Purple wisteria in blossom over Ito's Matsukawa plaza

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Jim on Japan @jimt.onjapan.net · 06/03/2026

The threaded reply feature in Google Chat is incredibly frustrating, especially on Android. It is surprising there isn't a setting to turn off this "feature."

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Jim on Japan @jimt.onjapan.net · 13/02/2026

Well, THAT increase seems a bit excessive: Last year it was US$29.99/year for MiLB.tv, but this year it has doubled to US$59.99. Who have they hired for the San Jose Giants play-by-play?

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Jim on Japan @jimt.onjapan.net · 10/02/2026

My snowperson is learning to limbo in preparation for their dream vacation to Trinidad. (Over the weekend, Ito got its first significant snow in six years.)

A crude snowman that is leaning over rather than falling apart as the temperatures return to normal for the Ito, Japan area.

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Jim on Japan @jimt.onjapan.net · 02/02/2026

A hard disk failed in a cheap (i.e. old) server at OVH Canada (Quebec). They were able to swap in a replacement within 45 minutes of my opening a ticket. RAID rebuild takes longer. Admittedly, the new drive is even older than the one it replaced, but I can live with that given their response time.

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Jim on Japan @jimt.onjapan.net · 21/01/2026

Walking along the Ito River on a cool and very quiet evening.

Night view of the illuminated river walk in Ito, Shizuoka, Japan.

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Jim on Japan @jimt.onjapan.net · 15/01/2026

The Scratch Foundation is seeking donations and memberships to keep the Scratch programming environment free and flourishing. I'm a fan, so I've joined. www.scratchfoundation.org/home

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Jim on Japan @jimt.onjapan.net · 10/01/2026

Thank you, Phil O'Brien and Simon Morris, for the wacky and occasionally brilliant "Matinee Idle" that has livened up Kiwi summers for over 20 years. A fun way to be introduced to some "music" I would never have discovered. www.rnz.co.nz/life/culture...

rnz.co.nz

'Matinee Idle' co-hosts Phil O'Brien and Simon Morris sign off

The hosts of the divisive show say goodbye, sharing a thoughtful message about AI as the broadcaster draws the programme to a close in its current form.

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Jim on Japan @jimt.onjapan.net · 27/12/2025

There is something oddly satisfying about pointlessly wasting compute cycles to arrive at a vanity MeshCore node ID. gessaman.com/mc-keygen/

gessaman.com

MeshCore Custom Key Generator

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Jim on Japan @jimt.onjapan.net · 13/12/2025

After 16+ years, the Open Education Resource Foundation is on the verge of closing as the current fiscal host pulls out. This has the potential to close WikiEducator which has been around even longer. oerfoundation.org/2025/12/13/t...

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Jim on Japan @jimt.onjapan.net · 22/11/2025

The feijoa season has arrived in Japan. This is the (first) bag we received from a farm near Osaka.

A clear plastic bag full of about 2kg of smallish feijoa.

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Jim on Japan @jimt.onjapan.net · 16/11/2025

I was back in my old Kichijoji / Mitaka neighborhood and noticed there is a new vending machine offering gyoza, steamed buns, sesame balls, and more.

A large vending machine with photos of its gyoza, sesame ball, and steamed bun offerings on the front.

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Reposted by Jim on Japan

globalc @globalc.bsky.social · 15/11/2025

We do an evening around #LoRa devices and #Meshtastic on Friday. - What are Lora, how does Lora relate to WiFi - What's Meshtastic, will bring in some devices - I'll explain this BBS use case idea, how it works Location: Nov 21st, 7pm, Meeting room 202 at Jiyugaoka juku Center, Tokyo

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Jim on Japan @jimt.onjapan.net · 10/11/2025

It is November, and that means "Butt Sumo" (尻つみ祭り) time again at the local shrine here in Ito, #Japan. Contestants stand back-to-back on a raised dais and, at the signal, attempt to bump their opponent off. The winners are sometimes surprising.

Two contestants back-to-back on a small circular platform. At the signal, they use their bottoms in an attempt to knock their opponent off the dias.

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Jim on Japan @jimt.onjapan.net · 22/10/2025

Halloween 🎃 is appearing more and more in Japan.

Store display of manikins in jeans with Jack o'lanterns for heads.

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Jim on Japan @jimt.onjapan.net · 17/10/2025

Yesterday's silliness involved replacing the garish LENOVO BIOS logo on my old ThinkPad with the Tokyo Linux User Group emblem.

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Jim on Japan @jimt.onjapan.net · 13/10/2025

School kids have been practicing their drumming for the past two weeks for their ride in the float. Our community's dashi was hit by an elderly driver while making the rounds on Saturday, putting one neighbor in the hospital with broken ribs. We sat out most of Sunday's festivities.

Our small, two-story wooden float adorned with lanterns and the name (Koji) of our district.

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Jim on Japan @jimt.onjapan.net · 13/10/2025

It was festival weekend in Ito. More than a dozen illuminated floats with musicians are pulled and pushed around the neighborhood.

A two-story float adorned with illuminated lanterns is pushed across a bridge by residents in colorful happi coats.

The Ito, Shizuoka shopping arcade lined with decorated and illuminated wooden floats, each with drummers and often flutes and hand-held gongs creating a very loud atmosphere for the residents participating in the festival

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Jim on Japan @jimt.onjapan.net · 13/10/2025

For the past 3 years, I've been using the Open Source SilverBullet PKMS to organize my notes in Markdown files. Its major feature is how programmable it is (first in JavaScript, now in Lua). SilverBullet's author is publishing a series of tutorials on YouTube.

youtu.be

Welcome to SilverBullet part 1: Basic Markdown and Outlines

YouTube video by Zef Hemel

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Jim on Japan @jimt.onjapan.net · 02/10/2025

The Tokyo Maker Faire 2025 is being held this weekend (04~05 October) at Tokyo Big Sight.

makezine.jp

Join Maker Faire Tokyo | Maker Faire Tokyo 2025 | Make: Japan

Maker Faire Tokyo 2025

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Jim on Japan @jimt.onjapan.net · 27/09/2025

Wow, it's been years since I encountered a "you can only use this site with MSIE" alert... except now it is Safari or Chrome.

Web site alert preventing buying rugby tickets without Safari or Chrome.

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Jim on Japan @jimt.onjapan.net · 17/09/2025

Congratulations to the San Jose Giants for sweeping the playoffs and taking home the California League championship! Now a two-month gap until the ABL season kicks off.

sjgiants.com

San Jose Giants

The official website of the San Jose Giants with the most up-to-date information on scores, schedule, stats, tickets, and team news.

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Jim on Japan @jimt.onjapan.net · 26/08/2025

JG1GPY showed off a clever, compact multi-band antenna at the SOTA JP booth at the Japan Ham Fair this weekend. A switch allows selection of direct feed (for 1/4 wave on 40m, with trailing counterpoise) or through a 49:1 transformer for end-fed on higher bands.

JG1GPY antenna with 49:1 matchbox mounted on the side of a fishing reel wound with wire.

JG1GPY fishing reel antenna with a flying lead from the matchbox to the wire where it exits the spool.

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Jim on Japan @jimt.onjapan.net · 23/08/2025

This weekend is the Japan Ham Fair 2025 at Ariake GYM-EX (the 2020 Olympics Gymnastics venue). A chance for the big commercial vendors to show off previews of their new equipment and a flea market to allow users to recycle older gear. onjapan.net/2025/hamfair/

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Jim on Japan @jimt.onjapan.net · 01/08/2025

My SatNOGS station disappeared a few days ago. I get the RPi down from the pole, plug it in to the LAN and it is fine. It turned out the 2.4GHz radio had stopped on the crucial access point. (Everything else was on 5GHz, so I never noticed.)

satnogs.org

SatNOGS

Open Source global network of satellite ground-stations

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Jim on Japan @jimt.onjapan.net · 10/07/2025

I'm pleased that someone at Helsinki Airport was willing to have fun with their airport code.

A lost luggage video display headlined "Where in HEL is my baggage?"

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Jim on Japan @jimt.onjapan.net · 05/06/2025

PyCon JP is in Hiroshima, September 26 & 27 (Friday & Saturday): "Pieces of Python, Coming Together." The CfP is open for proposals in Japanese and English. pyconjp.blogspot.com/2025/05/pyco...

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Jim on Japan @jimt.onjapan.net · 09/05/2025

Tokyo Python is being reborn with a night of lightning talks on May 22nd in Roppongi. www.meetup.com/tokyopython/...

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Jim on Japan @jimt.onjapan.net · 01/05/2025

The Oregon State Open Source Lab (OSL) is desperately seeking funding. They provide hosting for many projects and build infrastructure for multiple architectures. Please consider donating: osuosl.org/blog/osl-fut...

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Jim on Japan @jimt.onjapan.net · 30/04/2025

Continuing my series of unusual post boxes, this penguin awaits your letters between the Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium and the Antarctic Museum/Research Ship Fuji.

Cartoonish penguin-shaped mailbox at the Port of Nagoya Acquarium

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Jim on Japan @jimt.onjapan.net · 23/04/2025

NZART (The New Zealand Association of Radio Transmitters) is the only amateur radio organization I am a member of that still insists on publishing its magazine on paper. The March issue has just arrived. It still punches above its weight for a small organization, but I wish it were digital.

Front cover of Break-in for March/April 2025 featuring a photo showing ZL2LEO operating an ex-military radio atop Coopers Knob

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Jim on Japan @jimt.onjapan.net · 17/04/2025

Ito is hosting a ramen festival for the next four weekends. Within a five-minute walk, I can try 28 different kinds of ramen from around Japan.

Ito Ramen festival 2025 poster, along with photos showing tables set up along the river and stalls being constructed

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Jim on Japan @jimt.onjapan.net · 16/04/2025

I managed to get my @washingtonpost.com Keyword score back under 7. (It is harder to work on the average time statistic, since this is a "second screen" game.)

Washington Post Keyword game scoreboard, showing 6.97 avg. guesses across 615 days.

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Jim on Japan @jimt.onjapan.net · 16/04/2025

A group of New Zealand ham radio operators has a VoIP interface to some of their digital voice reflectors. I have built a webapp that shows real-time Asterisk extension status using Go and SSE. github.com/DigitalVoice...

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Jim on Japan @jimt.onjapan.net · 16/04/2025

I updated my old ex-lease Lenovo X1 Thinkpad to Fedora Silverblue 42 without issue. Thanks to everyone that is making this so seamless.

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Jim on Japan @jimt.onjapan.net · 04/04/2025

The REAL baseball season starts tomorrow (technically, Friday night in the US). I am looking forward to another San Jose Giants winning season. www.milb.com/san-jose

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Jim on Japan @jimt.onjapan.net · 25/03/2025

A (modern) programmer may own the parking lot around the corner since it is 0-indexed.

A parking lot with spaces numbered 0, 1, 2, 3, ...

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Jim on Japan @jimt.onjapan.net · 21/03/2025

It was a lovely but cool day for the vernal equinox at Jogasaki-Kaigan Station in Ito.

Jogaski-Kaigan station on the Izukyū line as seen from the pedestrian over-crossing. The mountain cherries blossoms are past their peak, but still form a nice backdrop.

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Jim on Japan @jimt.onjapan.net · 18/03/2025

My Atari Portfolio hard disk adapter prototype. The only problem was that the hard disk's power consumption was higher than the computer's, but it was fun to play with.

Photos of the front and back of a hand-wired hard disk prototype for the Atari portfolio, featuring a rats nest of yellow wires.

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Reposted by Jim on Japan

Steve Herman @newsguy.bsky.social · 15/03/2025

My colleagues and our broadcasts, devoted to telling America’s story to the world — honestly, fairly and with an unwavering commitment to the truth, are being silenced this weekend. open.substack.com/pub/newsguy/...

open.substack.com

Requiem for the voice that carried a nation’s conscience

VOA's signal for 83 years crossed borders and ideologies—now its silence will speak volumes.

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Jim on Japan @jimt.onjapan.net · 02/03/2025

The JARL Ham Fair 2025 will return to Ariake GYM-EX (an Olympic venue repurposed into an exhibition hall) on August 23rd and 24th. www.jarl.org/Japanese/1_T...

Ariake GYM-EX, a Tokyo Olympics venue that now serves as an exhibition hall

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Jim on Japan @jimt.onjapan.net · 12/02/2025

Old rail car at Daiyuzan Station with a plaque celebrating Valentine's Day. The line will be 100 years old in October.

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Jim on Japan @jimt.onjapan.net · 09/02/2025

I enjoyed the food and folk dance at the Soga Plum Festival in Odawara, but the cold snap has delayed the blossoms so most areas still looked barren.

white plum trees in bud but with few blossoms in Odarara on 09Feb2025

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Jim on Japan @jimt.onjapan.net · 03/02/2025

The Tokyo Linux User Group technical meeting this Saturday (2025-02-08 14:00)). Edmund Edgar will be giving a talk about ATProto, the protocol behind the Bluesky social network, and also a bit on how other open social networks (Fediverse, Nostr, Farcaster) are designed. tlug.jp/wiki/Meeting...

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